


you know i can't let you slide through my hands

by deadlikemoi



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A Love is Blind AU, Alternate Universe -Modern Setting, F/M, Finding love through unconventional means, Wild horses by The Rolling Stones, blind dating, smut in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23595721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadlikemoi/pseuds/deadlikemoi
Summary: “Welcome to the show, ladies! I’m Jyn Erso-Andor and this is my husband, Cassian Andor.” They both smile as they make a point of connecting with each person in the room.“We will be your hosts for however long you stay with us. The point of this is to find out, once and for all, if love is really blind.” The words settle in for a beat or two, all for dramatic effect.“Weddings will take place in 40 days and hopefully at least a few of you will be walking down the aisle towards your future spouse at that time. Today is the first set of blind dates, literally. The pods are behind this door,” she motions to a door on the far side of the room, “where you will get a chance to get to know all the eligible bachelors. Happy hunting, ladies.” She grins and winks before setting off with her husband in tow.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9
Collections: The Perfect Date - Pink Ladies Spring Exchange





	you know i can't let you slide through my hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ReyloBrit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyloBrit/gifts).



*

Rey is very anxious throughout their Sunday dinner. Max made a big roast, carrots, biscuits, and there's some special dessert waiting in the refrigerator. 

It's the perfect time to drop a rather large bomb. 

“Are you serious?” Her mother’s normally soft voice echoes around the small kitchen. 

She can't help picking at the gingham tablecloth that has seen better days before, but both she and her mother are too attached to throw out the fabric barely stitched back together. 

Rey isn't sure what kind of reaction she truly expected to come from her mother, but surprise hadn't been the first option. They are sitting at the small table in Maz’s kitchen where they have shared many meals over the years as well as so many conversations with equal amounts of laughter and tears. 

“I am very serious. I’ve thought about it long and hard,” she starts playing with her cuticles, pushing them down and away from her nail bed where she can see the shine of grease. “This is the way forward for me, the one I am picking for myself. I know you might not understand or agree, but my mind is made up.”

While they have a close relationship as mother and daughter, a part of Rey has always been resistant to fully opening up. If Maz noticed over the years, she never said, but her eyes seem to see through her daughter with little difficulty. 

“Whatever you need, my dear. All I want is your happiness.”

*

**Day One**

Each one of the ladies enters the living space at her own time, one after another, sometimes with long spaces of time between, and their wide eyes try to take everything in at once. Their cellphones are confiscated immediately upon entry, cutting them off from everyone except those other individuals participating in the show.

The condo is immaculately decorated and filled with anything a young woman could ever need, save for a quick exit to the outside world. 

“Welcome to the show, ladies! I’m Jyn Erso-Andor and this is my husband, Cassian Andor.” They both smile as they make a point of connecting with each person in the room. 

“We will be your hosts for however long you stay with us. The point of this is to find out, once and for all, if love is really blind.” The words settle in for a beat or two, all for dramatic effect. 

“Weddings will take place in 40 days and hopefully at least a few of you will be walking down the aisle towards your future spouse at that time. Today is the first set of blind dates, literally. The pods are behind this door,” she motions to a door on the far side of the room, “where you will get a chance to get to know all the eligible bachelors. Happy hunting, ladies.” She grins and winks before setting off with her husband in tow. 

Silence descends on them as they all stare at the door that leads into the pods. The first dates are scheduled to begin in less than thirty minutes, and the tension in the room is high. 

“Fuck it, anyone want a drink?” Rose, a petite Asian woman, is up and searching for a corkscrew to pop the cork of the wine bottle settled on the counter in front of her. 

“I think we can all use a drink,” Rey is only too willing to dull the senses just a bit. * She is more anxious than she thought possible, considering the fact that no one will see her and she won't see them. There won't be awkward hugs or handshakes, the cringe of unsatisfied expectations, or the possibility of being stood up. 

It's truly a blind date in every sense. 

There's no sign restricting alcohol in the private pods, so with a wine glass in one hand and notebook in the other, Rey walks in to her first date of the night. The ladies are told that they will remain in their rooms while each bachelor cycles through until they've met each one. 

“Hello,” the disembodied voice on the other side of a wall calls out to her. It's a nice voice, all in all, and there is something to be said for only knowing a person this way.

“Hi there.” Her voice comes out breathier than she's ever heard it before. Get yourself together, Rey.

“You have a nice accent. What's your name?” 

“My name is Rey, and your voice isn't too bad either.” 

Silence works its way out in the open for a few beats. It's not quite awkward, but it doesn't go unnoticed either. 

“It's great to meet you, Rey. My name is Kylo.” 

She can't keep herself from laughing, so hopeful that he doesn't take it the wrong way. This is an odd situation, after all. “Kylo? Is that your real name?” 

“Normally I’d be offended if someone laughed at my name like that.” She can hear him chuckle once, twice through the wall. “But I’ll forgive you this once.” 

She can be breezier than she normally might be given the circumstances. Tonight is only an introduction. 

There's a line of tension there—as if he intends to bend her over and teach her a lesson, and she will not deny that it sends a shiver up her spine. “You sound like a bad boy. Are you?” 

Another chuckle, this one deep like his voice. “I’m mostly reformed by now, I promise.” 

Her penchant for bad boys hasn't always been a good thing. “I’m not sure I can handle another bad boy. What do you have to say about that?” She can't help that she feels the need to needle him. 

There's the sound of ice cubes knocking together as he moves or takes a drink. “Like I said, I’m reformed. Military school works that out of you sooner or later.” 

Questions are flowing around in her mind, itching and scraping to make their way out, and there's no hesitancy to let them fly. “Military school? There's a story there.” 

“I was a wayward youth for a long time,” he starts. “My parents were always too busy for me growing up and… And I rebelled against them every chance I got. I was angry for a long, long time, though it took me even longer to understand where that all stemmed from. I got into fights a lot. Once, in high school, I almost put a guy in the hospital. It was the last straw, and I was sent away. Looking back on it now, I can understand it, but it still hurts—thinking about how easily my parents shipped me off when I became too much to handle.” 

Rey swallows heavily and nearly drops the wine glass in her hand. She hasn't taken a drink in awhile. “I’m so sorry, Kylo. That's awful. I have my own sob story, if it makes you feel any better.” 

“How would that make me feel better? I don't want anyone else to know what it was like growing up in my house with my family.” 

She hates that she can't see even a small glimpse of him. Of course that's the point, but his voice is deep enough that it thrums through her, shakes her entirely, and he appears to have the emotional stability of someone many years older than her. 

That leads her to a question. “How old are you?” 

“Thirty-five. Dare I ask how old you are?”

She can't help but laugh this time. “I’m sure you're aware that it's considered very rude to ask a woman how old she is, but I’ll tell you this once. I’m thirty-one, nearly thirty-two.” 

“Nearly? How nearly?” 

Sparing a look at the clock by the door, Rey is shocked to see that she's spent nearly an hour in here with Kylo. It seems like barely ten minutes has passed in all honesty. 

“So I think that by the time the weddings roll around I'll be thirty-two.” 

As if reading her thoughts, a knock on the door completely jars her out of her reverie. He speaks before she can, “I think that's the end of our time tonight. Can I see you again tomorrow? I really enjoyed talking with you, Rey.” 

“I'd love to. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

She spends the minutes after he's left thinking about what she now knows; Kylo grew up in Chicago just like she did, though she doesn't know which neighborhood exactly. He's a successful tattoo artist who loves what he does. He is equally as intrigued by her work as she is with his. 

Something is there, something special that she can't easily set aside to clear her head.

*

Rey remains in the room for the rest of the night as a revolving door of other men come and go. No one is nearly as memorable as Kylo, but she can't fault them for that.

Poe is charming in a way that tells her it's unconscious and probably embedded deep in his DNA. He must be handsome. 

Finn is sweet and almost refuses to talk about himself at all, constantly deflecting the conversation back to her so much so that she ends up in tears after laughing at his sometimes weak attempts. Spending time with him isn't so bad. 

Hux is, to put it simply, a bastard. He asks the usual questions like he's meant to, but they are accompanied with responses that make her fists clench and her blood boil. For the first time, she is writing one of the men off quickly and waits impatiently until the next one arrives. 

Snap isn't bad, per se, but she feels no excitement or exhilaration during their time together. He could be her brother or the local priest for all it matters. Another name is crossed off the list. 

Last but not least is Mitaka. It is clear from that start that he's very shy and a little awkward, but also very sweet. He is endearing in a way that takes her by surprise, maybe because he's so easy to talk to, or possibly because he's been more open than anyone else she's spoken to tonight.

*

As far as initial impressions go, Rey is intrigued by at least a few of the men she met that night. Kylo, Poe, Finn, and Mitaka all come up smelling like roses upon first inspection. The first date is merely about introductions, figuring out if there's even the smallest touch of sparks that may lead to more, so considering the fact that she was only repulsed by two of them… Well, it's pretty good returns, all in all.*

A small, almost microscopic piece of her heart is hopeful in all of this. 

All six of the ladies congregate in the kitchen and living room area to discuss their initial findings and, most importantly, see if there’s any competition for the one (or more) that they're after. 

Everyone is congenial enough and there are no outward or obvious signs of jealousy yet, but love can do crazy things to people. 

She's not even ready to call it that yet, but Rey knows that from experience. 

The first voice is not too different from her own, the accent at least, but it sounds like she hails from a much more posh part of the country when compared to the bad foster homes Rey grew up in.

“Bunch of gits, I tell you,” the voice says between sips of scotch. “Mitaka and Hux are the only two I could handle from one breath to the next. How about you lot?” 

There are only twelve of them in total, six men and six women, but that allows for a lot of permutations. Maybe she can't quite compute the possibilities off the top of her head, but Rey is an engineer and math is her strong point. 

She's not ready to pin herself down yet. “I think I like too many to really say.” 

“How many?” Rose and Kaydel don’t look horrified which tells her that she isn't the only one with multiple possibilities. 

“Um… four?” 

Jannah nearly spits out her drink. “Four?! There are only six of them total!”

While she can't see her own face, the flush of heat is there and she's sure her face is turning the same color of the kettle stationed over a burner on the stovetop. 

Shockingly, it's Phasma who comes to her aid. “There's nothing wrong with keeping your options open. It is only the first night, after all. We have a long sprint ahead of us all.”

*

That night Jannah finds her and Siri in their shared bathroom, finishing the usual nighttime skin care regime and brushing their teeth before bed.

“Hey Rey, um…” She looks down at her hands where she's twisting a silver ring on her left ring finger. Rey has to stop herself from staring as she begins to wonder if there's a reason why she still wears a ring there. “I wanted to come and apologize for what I said earlier. And the way I said it, too. It was uncalled for.” 

Even if most reality television is known for its drama between participants, Rey isn’t here to tear anyone down or make enemies. No matter how much the comment had hurt at the time, she easily and quickly tells Jannah that it’s all forgiven, no harm, no foul.

*

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for tuning in! The show will spice up in later chapters 😉
> 
> Check out some of my recent work!  
> [Globe Kink](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333020)  
> [Steadfast and True](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22701049/chapters/54255685)


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